Thoughts on my Discover 1:
Here are my thoughts after assembling the bike and riding it about 5 miles.
I really like the bike. It seems well made and rides well. It has plenty of power for the riding I do. Maybe someday I get something more expensive but overall, I am pleased with what I got for the money I spent. I may need to invest in an adjustable handlebar stem since the bars are little low for me (6’3”).
Regarding the unboxing video on the Velotric website…Fahggetaboutit! Nothing about that box resembles the one I received other than the overall shape. It was a bit of a struggle to get the bike out of the box. In retrospect, I should have laid the box on its side, opened and folded back the bottom flaps of the box, then stood the box upright again. This way, I could have lifted the box off the bike, rather than trying to lift the bike out of the box. The glossy printed Quick Start Guide has some quirky sentences, such as, “d. squeeze is misspelled the wheel to inspect the squeez sound until the squeez sound is resolved.” (Actual wording and spelling).
I am mechanically inclined but assembly was more complicated than I anticipated. I needed to do a lot of little things that were already done on a different e-bike I recently purchased. Things like attaching the bell, computer, and front light. It didn’t help that the fork was put on backwards. (At this point let me say that Velotric’s customer support is very good and responsive. Being unfamiliar with the fork’s stem, I emailed them and received a response in a few minutes, including a promise of a reimbursement if I needed to take the bike to a shop to have the fork turned around). Fortunately, I was able to fix the problem myself and finished assembling the bike.
Regarding the bike itself: It is really a nice-looking bike. We got the cyan color. The fenders are black plastic, which is both good and bad. They won’t rattle, but I question how durable they are. The headlight is super bright; it is almost blinding when looking directly at it. One bonus is the taillight, which was not included in the list of features.
I have the most recent version with hydraulic disc brakes and the computer with 5 PAS levels. Here are the approximate speeds (mph) at the PAS levels using the throttle: 1 = 8.5, 2 = 10.5, 3 = 14, 4 = 17.2, 5 = 20.1.
One concern I have about the PAS is there is no sensitivity adjustment. On the other e-bike I have, you can adjust how many degrees of pedal revolution needs to occur before the motor kicks in. Not so with the Discover 1. As soon as you start pedaling the motor accelerates very fast. It seems there is no slow ramping, and certainly no way to adjust it. I can see where this could be a hazard. For example, let’s say you’re in PAS level 3, come to a stop, and you need to turn left. As soon as you start pedaling, the bike will want to take you up to the aforementioned 14mph. That may be way too fast to turn safely depending on the road or path you are on. Unfortunately, there is no way to change this behavior in the computer. My riding habits will need to change: I can turn the PAS to 0 when I come to a stop, or slightly squeeze the brake lever to shut off the motor while make sharp turns.
Some previous owners commented that the mechanical brakes were just OK. I am a newbie when it comes to disc brakes on bikes, but the hydraulic ones work very well. I can lock up the tires when going 20 miles an hour. Not sure if that is a valid test, but it tells me the brakes work!
Others commented on the quality of the fork. It seems fine to me, but I have only ridden on paved roads.
Hope you find this useful.